Green Tip of the Day: Eat Local

1. Buy Local, Grill Local
Farmers' markets open soon, if they haven't already opened for the season. Choose your meal based on what's in season now, and available locally. Aim to buy as much as possible food grown and produced within 100 miles of home.
Need a jump-start in finding all things local? Use the 100-Mile Diet Mapping Tool to define your target area. Then, use Local Harvest to find local farms and farmers' markets in your neighborhood.


2. The Substitute You'll Actually Pay Attention To
Some summer favorites just aren't available yet. Try these worthy substitutes until the harvest catches up with your appetite. Although there's really no substitute for sweet corn, how about grilling asparagus? It's quick, easy, and the grilled flavors this venerable veg evokes simply can't be beat.
Have a hankering for crisp, cool watermelon? Sub in strawberries — they're ripe for the picking (and eating). Tired of waiting for "everything tomato?" Try our white gazpacho soup recipe that uses lots of garlic instead and will make your calendar-watching days a little more tolerable.

See the full article on The Daily Green

Happy Monday! :)

15 Ways to Look at an Altoid Tin

Do you love those "curiously strong" Altoid mints? Do you hate throwing away those tins, just knowing they have to be useful for something? Well you're lucky you found this blog post then! I promise you, you'll never see an Altoid tin as garbage again, but rather as...
1. A mini garden

2.  A watercolor box

3. A travel candle

4. A crayon holder

5. A mini tool box

6. first aid, sewing, and dental kits

7. A guitar

more uses for Altoid tins:

7. a mini time capsule

8. A business card holder

9-15. "Office: paper clips, thumb tacks, mechanical pencil leads and erasers 

Sewing: pin/needles, thimbles, pins, folding scissors, needle threader 
Knitting: small travel kit with a few stitch markers, a nail clippers for snipping threads, a short bit of pencil, retractable measuring tape, darning needle. 
Purse: nail clippers, lip balm, a couple of individually packaged wet naps. 
Jewelry: rings and earrings 
Bathroom: bobby pins, hair elastics, floss pics 
Camping/Hiking: matches, small first aid kit with a few band-aids and some wet naps" -damascusannie on Ravelry

These are all great both for saving money, and saving the evironment. They're also great for getting the creative juices flowing.

Have a great week everyone!

Happy Belated Earth Day!

Here are 10 day-after-Earth-Day green tips!


1. Use lemons as..

• ant repellent
• a multi-purpose cleaner
• Bleach (for laundry)
• an odor neutralizer
• disinfectant for minor cuts and wounds
• see more ideas here!

2. Stop Idling
 "Every moment you spend idling your car's engine means needlessly wasting gas, as well as rougher wear on your vehicle. Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than is needed for startup. Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion." -thedailygreen


3. Take a challenge on CarbonRally.com


4. Precycle (41 tips here)


5. Use baking soda to..

• clean your dishwasher
• wash your veggies (use a pot of water with 3-4 tablespoons of baking soda)
• deodorize your vacuum cleaner (sprinkle some in the bag)
•  remove stains
• make mouthwash
• click here for more info and more tips!

6. Turn off your computer
" Save energy and wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night. You'll save an average of $90 of electricity a year. The Department of Energy recommends shutting off your monitor if you aren't going to use it for more than 20 minutes, and the whole system if you're not going to use it for more than two hours." -thedailygreen


7. Start a recycling team for your school/office/community at Terracycle to recycle things like CapriSun pouches and chip bags and earn money for charities!


8. Use hydrogen peroxide...

• with baking soda to make toothpaste
• to remove blood stains from clothing
• treat mold in your house
• to clean your toothbrush
• see more ideas here!

9. Give and receive items for free in your town with Freecycle


10. Compost your food scraps instead of throwing them away.


Now get out there and green your environment!


Happy Belated Earth Day!! :)

17 Uses for Old Credit Cards and Gift Cards

Don't throw those old credit cards and gift cards away! Here are 17 ways to upcycle them into something great and help the environment.


1. Use one as a bookmark.


2. Make some Guitar Picks


3. Open a Locked Door
Just slide a credit card between the jam and the door where the lock is to open. 


4. Paint mask. 
Professionals use credit cards to make a neat trim line when painting. Especially in tight spots.

5. Make an iPhone/cellphone stand. 


6. Use one as a straightedge


7. Caulking edge 
Run the rounded corner of your credit card across the caulk bead for a professional look.

8. Cheese grater. 

Apparently the raised numbers on a credit card work in a pinch to grate hard cheeses. Just make sure you wash it first!

9. Make a letter opener

10. Make an Office Supply Holder
Cut one credit card in half for the ends, use two cards for the sides, and one for the bottom and glue the pieces together for a awesome little box for your paper clips, push pins, etc.! 

11. Scraper

Scrape ice off your car, gunk out of your bathtub, food stuck on dishes, mud off shoes--anything that needs scraping--with an old card.

12. Make a mosaic. 


13. Make a Stencil 


14. Make a Flower Box Fridge Magnet 




15. Makeshift Knife.
For when you're on plane (since you can't bring a real knife with you) or if a birthday cake needs cutting at school, work, etc and there are no knives on hand. (Again, be sure to wash beforehand!)


16. Make toothpicks.




17. Make a Cable Cord organizer

How-To Tuesday: Make Skirts out of Shirts!

Ruffle Skirt from 3 T-shirts 

 Skirt from Mens Button Down

Skirt From Too-Small Shirts 

Skirt from 2 T-shirts

30 Second Skirt 

Jumper Skirt

Happy How-To Tuesday! =)